


Let Them Talk

by love_coloured



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 22:41:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9037844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_coloured/pseuds/love_coloured
Summary: The pressure is getting to be too much for Inquisitor Lavellan.  She is forced to deal with her repressed attraction to a certain rogue, and the fallout of being indiscreet.  An expanded interaction taking place somewhere between "roof cookies" and the start of their relationship.





	

 

It wasn't the first time Artemisia had been caught admiring Sera's target practice while discussing Inquisition matters with Cassandra. No one had seemed to notice, not even the Seeker-- but she knew Sera noticed. Oh, she didn't outright acknowledge it this time; just made sure to pose in such a way that the meaning would only be clear from the Inquisitor's specific vantage point. Cassandra did not bat an eye at her obvious blush, but then again, Cassandra was unusually discreet about most things.

There had been more. Looks exchanged over a crowded table during Wicked Grace, a carefully woven wreath of flowers left on the door to her chambers earlier that week. Dorian, of course, had seen all the signs and began to needle her during their regular cup of tea in the library-- mercifully, only when they were alone. Despite his Tevinter reputation and sharp tongue, she found him easy to confide in-- perhaps too easy. The burden of the Inquisition left her drained and desperate for some kind of genuine interaction, and should that interaction be complaining about her ridiculous infatuations to a perfumed necromancer, it wouldn't be the strangest place she'd found relief.

The comfort she took in Sera's fleeting attentions, though, had become more than a thorn in her side, intermingled as it was with unspeakable sorrow and guilt. The thoughts that soothed her while alone in her too-large, chilly bedchamber, only served to trouble her now that she had to look Sera in the eye. The day was cool but pleasant, sunlight dappling the roof. 

"I know, it's stupid, yeah? Brought you all the way up here just to tell you about the ant thing." Sera gave her a half-smile. “It was a bad idea... just like the cookies.”

"It's not stupid. It makes sense to me." She sighed as she gestured towards the hall. “Besides, if I’m terribly honest, I’d prefer to be here discussing ants than sitting in on another session with squabbling Orlesian lords...”  While the topic of insects was satisfactory enough, she was admittedly far more interested in the play of sunlight on Sera's freckled shoulders and graceful collarbone.   


"Yeah?" Sera turned at once to face her, closer now so that their legs were almost touching, and fixed her with an unreadable, piercing stare. "The  _Herald's_ getting prettier by the day. I could almost kiss you right now." Her expression softened, but she wasn’t laughing.

"I... wouldn't stop you," Artemisia replied, carefully, never breaking eye contact. 

She got a crooked smile in response. "Oh, I know." The brazenness made her shiver. "But, someone could see." Sera nodded towards the bustling courtyard. "And then they'll _talk_ , and you know how they--"  
  
Taken by a whim, Artemisia interrupted her by gripping her hand. "So let them." She sounded much more confident than she felt; of course she did. That ability was the entire reason she'd ended up in this place. She'd often been assured that a good enough mimicry of competence was the next best thing, but the shameful ache in her core was making that more difficult than ever to believe. Sera's skin felt so warm, so alive and good... But an Inquisitor couldn’t do these things. She let go, covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry, I...”

She was pondering the magnitude of Cassandra's inevitable disapproval when Sera shifted decisively, swinging her right arm over Artemisia's body so she could lean closer, and breathed into her ear. " If you say so. I can give the bastards something to talk about." She waited a heartbeat or two, satisfied that her prey was willing, and engulfed her in a feral heat.

The kiss was softer and better than even her dreams had been. She caught a moan in the back of her throat when Sera's lips became urgent, responding quickly to the wordless assent of her body. Fingers slid over her knee and into the hollow of her inner thigh, stopping far too soon for her liking; her lips were parted by a hot tongue that teased only to gently withdraw. She was being toyed with, she realized, the limit of her desires tested. She wanted to give up every inch of herself right there, and Sera understood it; it thrilled and unsettled her. 

Down in the training yard rose a murmur, but in the embrace she was lost to everything, including the memory of the mark on her hand and the impending doom threatening them all.  _Let them talk!_ Something unraveled inside as she pressed into the other woman's body. Felt how closely they could fit together, if only--

Breaking the kiss without warning, Sera leaned back and licked the corner of her lips, eyes sparkling. "How's that? Think we put on a grand enough show?" 

"Sera..." She was a string pulled taut and primed, giddy with suspended pleasure but terrified of release. The weight of her position had only just settled in as a reality, and here she was playing hooky on a roof with...  a mere criminal? No, that wasn't  _quite_ right, she thought with a flash of anger.  But the others wouldn’t allow her to forget it. 

“Oh, you’re too easy,” Sera sighed, and the seduction in her voice tugged at the very last inch of restraint Artemisia had. "I'd love to play you just like a... with the string. Makes beautiful music, if you touch it just right." Her brow furrowed deeply. "Not that I know much about music, mainly bows-- but, well. It's been lovely, Inky. See you around." 

When she had recovered her wits, Sera was already leaving without her. "Sera!" She practically shouted as she scrambled through the window _. A pathetic display_ , muttered the voice in the back of her head, but it was too late to worry who was watching. She managed to brush Sera's arm as she stumbled through the doorway, and was met by a room full of slack-jawed stares.

_"It's the Inquisitor!"_ The room gasped as one.

_"What's she doing in--"_

_"I heard someone say she's been--"_

_"They say she took a shine to--"_

Sera relaxed in her grip for a second or two, slipped through her fingers in a way the crowd couldn't see. "Can't rush these things, you know. See you around. Maybe? Probably. And you lot can shut it already," she spat, red-faced, at the taverngoers. "The Lady Inquisitor's busy on her official business-y... business!" 

“That’s right. Thank you for the very cordial _business_ engagement, Lady Sera. You may be dismissed.”

Sera flashed a radiant smile and dashed down the stairs,  leaving Artemisia in a daze. . The whispering and glances followed  her  all the way back to the Great Hall, where she collided with Varric.

“Whoa, whoa there, Inquisitor. Something’s got you distracted, huh?” 

She winced slightly. The dwarf had a way of noticing things. If he caught onto it, she could very well find herself the protagonist of a trashy novel. “You could... say that. I’m sorry Varric, I was in a rush to get to Josephine’s meeting, and...”

He sighed, though not too unkindly. “The Herald’s playing hooky again? Better get in there. I hear Leliana’s attending and she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” She nodded and  turned to walk away.  “ Say , Inquisitor?”

“Yes, Varric?”

“Hope you’re ready for a little rumor-mongering. You _do_ know what you’re doing, don’t you?”

The color drained from her face. “I”m afraid that I don’t.” There was no use worrying about it now, was there? Part of her was terrified, but more  _alive_ than she’d felt in months. “Rumors don’t frighten me anymore. I’ve heard enough lies about me to last several lifetimes. “ At this point she’d delayed Josephine and the others far too long, so she turned on her heel. “Well, see you later, Varric.” 

“The heart wants what it wants,” he muttered after her.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Started as a tiny conversation I wanted to expand upon, and got out of hand. It could probably fit into a series at some point, but I'm not sure how many interactions I'll feel like writing or when they will come to me, so right now it's as is.
> 
> Written mainly to work out some things from the perspective of my Lavellan, since I started playing the game without much knowledge of lore and still need to piece together some things about her background. She's kind of... good at being elfy when she needs to be, and good at looking like she's good at things, but inside she is falling apart a little bit. She's losing her faith (further) after certain traumatic events, and realizing that she sought freedom in something that ended up feeling like a prison. There are reasons for that, I'm sure.


End file.
